Friday, January 02, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a good time over the past two days. I certainly did, with my new fridge being used to full capacity!

Oysters, foie gras and champagne were much in evidence as my TWDB and I saw the new year in hazily but happily. The boys had their own meal, chosen by them for total deliciousness, which meant butcher burgers, home-made oven chips, salad and an ice-cream log. I also did an exotic fruit salad with mangos, lychees, pomegranate, and pineapple.

Yesterday we had Christmas lunch - turkey and Christmas pud. NG joined us and brought her special recipe foie gras which was yummy. We washed it down with a bottle of Coteau du Layon having started with champagne and went on to enjoy a 2002 Margaux with the turkey, and a Domaine Henry Passerille with the pud.

I'm not sure how I got the meal on the table as I was working on half a cylinder only after the night before, but it all came together and was a huge success. The turkey, also bought from the butcher down the road, was delicious - it does make a difference buying it from a specialist rather than the supermarket. I needed it to get the giblets so I could make the stuffing.

So, on the menu, for the record, we started with NG's foie gras, then with the turkey we had bacon rolls, peas, bashed neeps (swede & carrot), roast potatoes, stuffing (pal B's recipe with oysters!), sprouts and gravy, then a fine stilton (brought back from the UK) and finally a pudding with cognac cream, and the rest of the exotic salad.

When I look back over my blog I like to see what I did in years past. This year was a particularly good one. I spent Christmas in the UK with my family, and New Year in France with the boys, my TWDB (our first) and NG. We opened the pressies after lunch and everyone was very pleased with their haul. I got a black backpack hand bag from my TWDB, and lovely gold earrings from NG. I now look pretty presentable!

I hope you are all feeling positive about the coming year. I had a good 2008 on the whole, but 2009 seems to be starting really well, and I have great hopes that it's going to be even better.

Best wishes to you all, my lovely readers. May 2009 bring you health and happiness.